Monday, November 26, 2007

I suppose the nicest shop in Brighton selling pictures has to be Art Republic on Bond Street. They sell prints and posters of everything from the last 100 years. From expressionism to surrealism and from pop art to the latest Banksy piece, they are all here.

In the last couple of years they have gone in for the more contemporary/urban/grafitti artists in a big way. I think they must have contacts with Pictures On Walls as they carry most of their artists.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

On the weekends of December 1&2 and 8&9 various Brighton and Hove artists will be holding Open Houses. This will be your chance to get that special Christmas present that you just won't be able to get anywhere else. The brochure boasts 400 artists and over 60 venues. These range from Hove to Kemptown and out to Ditchling and Newhaven. Things available will include paintings, prints, jewellery, sculpture and everything in between.

It is generally the same people and places that are showing in the Brighton festival but they are amongst the best of the local artists. The highlights from the brochure appear to be the knitting available from Cardigan athe usual good stuff from Studio106.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Relay is an exhibition whose "new works manifest particular engagements with sound. Each work points towards a singular, subjective preoccupation and its movement into the world. At the same time, something passes between the works – a relay that occurs when they are brought into proximity".

Finetuned, the organisation behind it, was established in 2005 by artists who maintain an engagement with sound oriented work both curatorially and in their own practice. It sounds like a two part installation of some sort, the first part of which is nearly over. More details are available here.

It is at the Friese Greene Gallery, 15-17 Middle St, Brighton until the 21st Dec.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

This is a new exhibition at Unit 03 in Wellington Road, Brighton. It features the work of Andy Vella.

"Andy Vella's huge canvass depict grumpy, aging, deformed nudes; the paintings' harsh lines reduce their subjects to a stark graphic horror directed at their own nakedness. Andy's fascination with the grotesque stems from watching monkeys masturbating at Longleat and seeing old men playing pocket billiards whilst waiting for the bus."

I haven't seen the pictures in the flesh yet but from the web site they look quite unsettling. Grotesque black and white figures with a bit of a willy obsession going on. It is on until 02 Dec.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

For a couple of years now I have been following the rise in popularity of "designer vinyl toys". These are small plastic toys that appeal to the big kids out there. They come in a varietyof sizes from keyring size to 12 inch tall. there have been a couple of shops in london that sell them for a while now but now I see Brighton has two shops that sell them as well.

One is Toy Life in the north Lanes. It has a nice selection as well as the odd exclusive. It has books and prints and the staff seem knowledgeable.

The other is down the bottom of Edward Street. It's name escapes me and it doesn't appear to have a website either.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Cor Da Rue or "colour of the streets" is the exhibition currently on at the OContemporary. It is a two month exhibition of urban Brazilian art that runs till the 9th December.

It represents 10 artists who have come over and made the gallery their own. One wall is is painted red and contains a number of graffiti/stencil pictures while the others hold everything form painted wall tiles and embroidery to abstract and portrait pictures.